Understanding ALE workflow.

Hello everyone. I have worked on and off on Avid Media Composer for a few years now, but up until now I have never been given anything more than Avid Media Files and a bin for every Avid job I have worked on. I'm preparing to start a new job and have been told I will be given a bin and ALEs for every day of shooting. Some google searching told me a bit about ALEs, but I am sort of confused about their application alongside the bins I will be receiving. Am I supposed to bring in the bins first, then apply the metadata from the ALEs in avid somehow?

That's a question from whomever is passing the files to you. Typically, the bin already has all the clips and the metadata applied and the ALE is just passed along as a deliverable or in case in needs to be reapplied.

If the person delivering the bin has not merged the ALE into the clips for the additional metadata, then that is up to you to decide whether you need that metadata or not.

Once you open the bin, you will be able to see if whatever metadata in the bin has been applied or not. But it really comes down to what has been agreed upon by whomever is supplying the "dailies."